Issue - meetings

Sandy Kelman asked the Board how it measured the performance of the Licensing Policy in delivering the 5 licensing objectives. 

The Convener commented that it is difficult to look at the objectives in isolation and while statistics can be useful they are not the only tool for measuring success.  She referred to the examples including the Purple Flag accreditation Scheme, that overall the city centre is safer and interventions by the Licensing Standards Officers.  Councillor Boulton commented that one question that it may be useful to pose is where would the city be without the Licensing Policy? 

Peter Benton commented that just because it was difficult to measure the impact of the policy didn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile attempting to do it.

Ruth O’Hare commented that the upcoming review of the Statement of Policy provided an opportunity to obtain a marker of the impact of the policy to date.

Sandy Kelman considered that it may be useful to use a red/amber/green score against each of the objectives to evaluate the impact of the policy on them.   

Sergeant Flett considered that statistics had to be applied with caution, for example a 100% increase in a particular crime could be recorded but in reality this could represent an increase from 1 to 2 crimes recorded.

Ruary Campbell commented that it was interesting that statistics were produced to conclude that there was overprovision and now statistics are being quoted to say there are improvements in the city.  He commented that there was a fall in footfall in the city centre and that the night time economy in the city was stale, with some venues only trading 1 day week.

The Convener commented that perhaps it was time to consider a change to the offering in the night time economy and to the mix of venues that was available to customers and possibly re-examine the overprovision areas with regard to on-sales.

The Joint Meeting resolved:-

to note the position

The Convener referred to the letter sent by the Forum to the Board in April 2013 which suggested how the Policy could be measured and evaluated.  He asked how the Board would evaluate the Policy in 2016 against the Licensing Objectives to know if it had been successful.  He advised that he and the Clerk to the Licensing Forum had attended a meeting with a representative from Alcohol Focus Scotland where it had become apparent that the Aberdeen policy and the Local Licensing Forum were seen as being good examples in comparison to some of the other Scottish areas.  He added that the Forum had recently considered how to measure the impact of the statistics reported to each meeting, as well as the type of information that the Forum should be receiving on a regular basis, and advised that the Forum was to hold a workshop session later in the year to discuss this in more detail.  Given the earlier discussions, he added that members of the Board were welcome to attend that workshop.

Councillor Boulton noted that simply measuring the number of refusals would not necessarily show the impact of the Policy, and added that it was important to note that the context of a decision would not be reflected by simply looking at statistics, or the conditions imposed.  She suggested that the Policy could be measured through other means, such as the retention of the Purple Flag, the relationship between partners, an improved relationship with the media, and the public perception in relation to alcohol.  She referred to the previous City Voice questionnaire and suggested this could be run again in future.  It was suggested that a measure of the Policy’s success could be as straightforward as any adjustments made as a result of the Policy.  Another improvement could be the use of additional information which was being requested from the consultees, as this could have a positive impact on the Board’s decision-making.  Councillor Boulton added that it had been encouraging for the Board to have input at a recent meeting from a local Community Council, and suggested that their attendance and input could also be part of measuring how the Board was improving. 

The Convener referred to the Scottish Government request for statistical information from ADP on legal highs, and advised that this was set out in a red, amber and green format.  He suggested that this might be useful to illustrate statistical information against the five Licensing Objectives.  He added that it would be useful to have a snapshot of the current status against the Objectives and then this could be compared against where things were at the end of the Policy’s lifespan.  He stated that he felt that ADP and the Licensing Forum could support the Board through provision of information and performance data, and suggested that this could be discussed at the workshop to be arranged for later in the year.

The Joint Meeting resolved:-

(i)           to note the suggestions around how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8